Marco Spalatin

Statement

"My work represents a continuous involvement with abstract geometric forms defined by careful manipulation of color and light. The relationship between form and color within the pictorial field demands a visually symbiotic presence. The challenge revolves around the selection of a form as a vehicle for color, as well as choosing appropriate color and light for that form. This interplay creates a primary spatial illusion, along with secondary effects. I find that precisely defined areas of color, when placed against each other, compete for dominance. This activity, when further accentuated by tonal structure, produces multiple levels of perception. A given area of uniformly applied pigment loses its flat character through simultaneous contrast with the surrounding colors. In many cases, the positive and negative spaces within the field become interchangeable. In more complex paintings, when the substructure is a series of repetitive modules, the color-light interplay reveals its polyphonic character.

In general, my compositions remain formal and symmetrical in order to be set in motion by unexpected mutations of color and light. In some cases, the careful placement of small areas of saturated color against a backdrop of transitional grays creates an illusion of suspended particles. There is no doubt that in these images in particular, my sense of color and light is subconsciously influenced and sustained by many years of scuba diving in the waters of the Adriatic Sea and the Caribbean. I am intrigued by the relativity of color and by the mystery of light, and I am constantly challenged to explore their potentials. Every painting becomes a self-imposed visual problem, subjectively resolved in search of an objective truth."

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Bio

1945   Born in Zagreb, Yugoslavia (Croatia)
1963   Entered United States
1968   BS in Art, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
1971   MFA University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

Permanent Collections:
Museum of Modern Art   New York
Musee d'ARt Moderne   Paris
Tate Gallery   London
Bibliotheque National    Paris
Victoria and Albert Museum   London
Library of Congress   Washington DC
Metropolitan Museu   Manila, Philippines
Philadelphia Museum of Art   Philadelphia
Museum of Modern Art   Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Milwaukee Art Museum   Milwaukee, WI
The Brooklyn Museum    Brooklyn, NY
Lessing J. Rosen wald Collection   Philadelphia
Cleveland Museum of Art   Cleveland, OH
Elvehjem Art Center   Madison, WI
Akron Art Institute   Akron, OH
Museum of Modern Art   Novi Sad, Yugoslavia